Egyptian banks Banque Misr, National Bank of Egypt, and Banque du Caire along with Global Ventures, MEA-focused venture capital firm, launched Nclude by Global Ventures, after getting Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) approval.

Nclude by Global Ventures will focus on accelerating FinTech Innovation and driving financial inclusion. The initial amount, equivalent to $85 million, is led by Banque Misr as an Anchor Investor and National Bank of Egypt and Banque du Caire as Strategic Investors. Other investors include eFinance Investment Group and Egyptian Banks Company. The fund is also set to attract further investment from prominent regional and international investors.

“This step is an implementation of the directives of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to support innovative youth in Fintech and Fintech-enabled sector, as well as CBE’s FinTech & Innovation Strategy which aims to create an enabling environment for the FinTech industry and adopt more innovative FinTech solutions capable of delivering banking and financial services to all segments of society more easily and at less cost, as a crucial step to transform Egypt into a regional center for the FinTech industry in the Arab World and Africa,” Mr. Tarek Amer, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, said.

The fund has already made its first investments in four companies which are: Khazna, Lucky, Mozare3 and Paymob.

“We are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to partner with the local and international investor community to provide ambitious founders the tools they need to succeed and compete at local, regional and global levels, while contributing to Egypt’s socio-economic development and prosperity,” Eslam Darwish, General Partner of the Nclude FinTech Fund, stated.

In addition to investing in existing start-ups, the fund will be supported by Shipyard Technology Ventures, a global venture builder.